#23 - Page Count
Edition #23 of the Lighthouse miniLetter!
You'll always get:
Three examples of great screenwriting
Two quotes about storytelling
One thing to think about
Plus some fun links at the bottom.
Three examples of great screenwriting
True Blood (Pilot)
Written by Alan Ball, Based on the Southern Vampire Novels by Charlaine Harris
I find the metaphor here just so damn slick. It’s describing the sound, the CLICK, but it naturally extends to the FANGS themselves.
Upon reread it’s unclear if it is metaphor. It doesn’t say gun, it says weapon, and maybe that’s what the fangs are. Maybe this isn’t metaphor at all, and someone just did load their weapon.
The Ghost and The Darkness
Written by William Goldman
Goldman does mention the camera in the first sentence, but in the third he’s not didactic with “out of focus” or anything like that. Just using “we” to let us know what we have access to and what we don’t. Specific and directorial, while leaving plenty of room for collaborators.
High Crimes (Pilot)
Written by Melanie Abrams Fierstein
Some context: These are kids listening to the radio in the 70s.
Great banter and excellent vernacular (with Alan dropping the “g”). But also this is establishing one of the main themes of the pilot, and Alan’s relationship to it.
And the lack of action lines really let the rhythm of this dialogue flow. Wonderfully subtle and lived in.
Two quotes about screenwriting
“My idea of a good fantasy is something that’s absolutely grounded in reality. And there’s a little element that doesn’t belong there - and that’s the fantasy element - that you have to react to and deal with in a completely real way.”
“I suppose I walk that line between comedy and cruelty because I think one illuminates the other.”
One thing to think about
Does page count actually matter?
I read a lot of scripts from a lot of different writers.
The difference between 96 pages and 98 pages seems almost arbitrary, but the difference between 99 and 101 feels big. Yet 103 to 107 sort of feel the same to me.
Half-hour? 28 feels tight. 31 feels sloppy.
62 pages? Maybe if it’s a period historical drama.
Of course, all this goes out the window once I read that first page…
Does page count actually matter?
Have a great draft,
David Wappel
PS Don’t Miss
Been putting this YouTube channel on the TV while I write recently